title: Cell-free cartilage engineering approach using hyaluronic acid-polycaprolactone scaffolds: a study in vivo.
abstract: Polycaprolactone scaffolds modified with cross-linked hyaluronic acid were prepared in order to establish whether a more hydrophilic and biomimetic microenvironment benefits the progenitor cells arriving from bone marrow in a cell-free tissue-engineering approach. The polycaprolactone and polycaprolactone/hyaluronic acid scaffolds were characterized in terms of morphology and water absorption capacity. The polycaprolactone and polycaprolactone/hyaluronic acid samples were implanted in a chondral defect in rabbits; bleeding of the subchondral bone was provoked to generate a spontaneous healing response. Repair at 1, 4, 12, and 24 weeks was assessed macroscopically using the International Cartilage Repair Society score and the Oswestry Arthroscopy Score and microscopically using immunohistological staining for collagen type I and type II, and for Ki-67. The presence of hyaluronic acid improves scaffold performance, which supports a good repair response without biomaterial pre-seeding.
authors.affiliation: 1Networking Research Centre on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lebourg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martínez-Díaz
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: García-Giralt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Torres-Claramunt
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gómez-Tejedor
authors.forename: J L Gómez
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ribelles
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vila-Canet
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Monllau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002474:Cell-Free System; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011817:Rabbits; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid
keywords: Cartilage regeneration; cell-free PCL scaffold; hyaluronic acid; osteoarthritis; tissue engineering